Glen Cove Man Pleads Guilty to Stabbing Death of Ex-Girlfriend

Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Glen Cove man pleaded guilty to murder charges last week for the March 2015 stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend.

Jose Cartagena, 56, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder (an A-I felony) before Supreme Court Justice Angelo Delligatti. The NCDA is recommending that the defendant be sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Cartagena is due back in court for sentencing on Dec. 12.

“Following their break-up, Jose Cartagena fatally stabbed a young mother as she went to pick up her daughter,” Singas said. “This cowardly murderer then fled to California, and thanks to the U.S. Marshals, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Nassau County Police Department, he has finally faced justice here in Nassau County. I hope this conviction brings some sense of solace to the family of Yanira Estella Canjura Martinez.”

Singas said that on March 26, 2015, at approximately 3:15 p.m., the defendant stabbed ex-girlfriend Yanira Estella Canjura Martinez, 32, multiple times in a Glen Cove parking lot on Glen Street. The victim, who had separated from the defendant a week earlier, was on her way to pick up her 5-year-old daughter. Martinez was pronounced dead at 4:02 p.m. at a local hospital.

Cartagena, who fled the scene, was apprehended in Delano, CA, on April 6, 2015, with the assistance of U.S. Marshals, ICE and NCPD.

Assistant District Attorney Martin Meaney of DA Singas’ Major Offense Bureau is prosecuting the case. Cartagena is represented by Ronald Beckoff, Esq.